I was fairly excited to read this novel, as it was much-hyped a couple of years ago, but, as several other reviewers have noted, it just didn't deliver. I had pretty high expectations from a Bram Stoker award winner, but I have to admit that I was sorely disappointed in this offering. In essence, it's the story of eight-year-old Merry, who, through the eyes of a child (which comes across as more exploitative than scary) witnesses the ostensible "possession" of her teenage sister, and the subsequent unraveling of the family in the wake of the horror.
Drawing heavily from its predecessors (right down to the "Exorcist"-esque green vomit), which is just lazy writing, the scene is set in Beverly, Massachusetts (right across the river from Salem, of Witch-Trial fame, of course), so there's a connotation far beyond the dust-jacket description of a "Massachusetts suburb." In short, this novel is little more than an "Exorcist" rip-off, and a fairly poorly-written one at that, which didn't really contribute anything new or creative to the genre. The premise is at least something of an interesting twist, as is the inclusion of a ghoulish blogger who at least convincingly deconstructs the exploitative TV show with an almost Derrida flair (there's an interesting twist on that), but it doesn't really offer much else. It seems that the author's ultimate message with this novel is actually penned in the words of this mysterious "blogger," which is the most refreshing aspect of the whole novel.
One my major issues with this novel is that it just tries too hard, but doesn't ever deliver. The prose tries to be descriptive but ends up consisting of essentially a string of occurrences, usually poorly described, few of them actually suspenseful as opposed to just unsettling. The pacing is very slow for an entire hundred pages, to the degree that it was really a chore to keep reading, hoping that something interesting was going to happen. It's also somewhat preachy in spots: it makes sure to get in there some of the talking points du jour, such as feminism, religious fanaticism (with its own form of exploitation), in the form of the desperate father reaching out to the church when all else fails, and, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire novel, a (somewhat) veiled critique of the exploitative mainstream media, including TV networks such as the Discovery Channel, which parade the family's tragedy for the world to see for ratings. In fact, the family only agrees to allow a TV producer into the home because breadwinner John has been laid off from his job, and they need the money to keep food on the table... which I can actually see happening. Also, I suspect that this novel will be highly dated in only a few years' time, with all the pop culture references scattered throughout, which will probably not mean very much to future readers, so neither is it going to age well.
Perhaps my biggest problem is the lack of anything resembling a cohesive story: it jumps around in terms of both time and perspective, and very few novels can pull this off successfully, under the best of circumstances. The dialogue was forced and unnatural, and, though I get that much of the first section, at least, is portrayed through the lens of an eight-year-old (and a precocious one at that... to the degree that it isn't really believable, even if she's actually the older Merry reminiscing about the events of the past), it just comes off as bad writing. Lots of stereotypical, two-dimensional stock characters, and poorly developed ones at that, also don't contribute much to the overall story. The premise definitely had potential, but it tries to take on too much. Focusing on the media exploitation, which would have been a much more interesting story, would have been preferable to the rather disjointed prose presented here.
It's not the worst of this genre I've ever read, but there are so many others which accomplish so much more than this one, I would recommend spending your time elsewhere.
Drawing heavily from its predecessors (right down to the "Exorcist"-esque green vomit), which is just lazy writing, the scene is set in Beverly, Massachusetts (right across the river from Salem, of Witch-Trial fame, of course), so there's a connotation far beyond the dust-jacket description of a "Massachusetts suburb." In short, this novel is little more than an "Exorcist" rip-off, and a fairly poorly-written one at that, which didn't really contribute anything new or creative to the genre. The premise is at least something of an interesting twist, as is the inclusion of a ghoulish blogger who at least convincingly deconstructs the exploitative TV show with an almost Derrida flair (there's an interesting twist on that), but it doesn't really offer much else. It seems that the author's ultimate message with this novel is actually penned in the words of this mysterious "blogger," which is the most refreshing aspect of the whole novel.
One my major issues with this novel is that it just tries too hard, but doesn't ever deliver. The prose tries to be descriptive but ends up consisting of essentially a string of occurrences, usually poorly described, few of them actually suspenseful as opposed to just unsettling. The pacing is very slow for an entire hundred pages, to the degree that it was really a chore to keep reading, hoping that something interesting was going to happen. It's also somewhat preachy in spots: it makes sure to get in there some of the talking points du jour, such as feminism, religious fanaticism (with its own form of exploitation), in the form of the desperate father reaching out to the church when all else fails, and, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire novel, a (somewhat) veiled critique of the exploitative mainstream media, including TV networks such as the Discovery Channel, which parade the family's tragedy for the world to see for ratings. In fact, the family only agrees to allow a TV producer into the home because breadwinner John has been laid off from his job, and they need the money to keep food on the table... which I can actually see happening. Also, I suspect that this novel will be highly dated in only a few years' time, with all the pop culture references scattered throughout, which will probably not mean very much to future readers, so neither is it going to age well.
Perhaps my biggest problem is the lack of anything resembling a cohesive story: it jumps around in terms of both time and perspective, and very few novels can pull this off successfully, under the best of circumstances. The dialogue was forced and unnatural, and, though I get that much of the first section, at least, is portrayed through the lens of an eight-year-old (and a precocious one at that... to the degree that it isn't really believable, even if she's actually the older Merry reminiscing about the events of the past), it just comes off as bad writing. Lots of stereotypical, two-dimensional stock characters, and poorly developed ones at that, also don't contribute much to the overall story. The premise definitely had potential, but it tries to take on too much. Focusing on the media exploitation, which would have been a much more interesting story, would have been preferable to the rather disjointed prose presented here.
It's not the worst of this genre I've ever read, but there are so many others which accomplish so much more than this one, I would recommend spending your time elsewhere.
